Some people think that the three visitors on this story are the archangels Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, but actually no one knows who they were…

Genesis 18: 1 – 10

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day, he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground, he said, “Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you. Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree. I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honoured me by coming to my home, so let me serve you.”

They replied, “Thank you; we accept.”

Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread.” Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready. He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.

Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“She is there in the tent,” he answered.

One of them said, “Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Picture

There is a very famous icon based on this story by an icon painter called Rublev.  Our picture today is a modern version of that icon by an artist called meg Wroe.  It was painted for the Iona Community, and the three figures are a Methodist minister, a student volunteer and a visitor from Africa.

Prayer

The scriptures speak of ‘entertaining angels unawares’ and that might be what happened in this story.

God of Abraham and Sarah, we thank you for the stories of this elderly couple who followed your call to set out on an unchosen adventure.  We thank you for the way their story is very real – of hope and disappointment, of faith and doubt, even of dishonesty and disobedience, and yet you loved them so very dearly.  Help us to be open to the possible that people who come into our own lives unexpectedly might be, of us, your messengers of hope and encouragement.  Amen.